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Location

Wah Cantt
is situated approximately 30 km (20 miles) northwest of
Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. It is a multicultural city inhabited by
people from every corner of Pakistan.

History

Ancient History

Wah Cantt
is adjacent to Taxila, a small
town enriched with one of the most important archaeological sites
of the world. The ancient name of Taxila was 'Takshasila'
which means the "city of cut stones". Here civilization and its
manifestation in sculpture and other arts took roots and
flourished. Taxila was conquered by Alexander in 327 BC. It later came under
the Mauryan dynasty and attained a remarkably mature level of
development under the great Ashoka. Then
appeared the Indo-Greek descendants of Alexander’s warriors and
finally came the most creative period of Gandhara. The great Kushan
dynasty was established somewhere near 50 AD. During the next 200
years, Taxila became a renowned center of learning, philosophy and
art. Pilgrims and travelers as well as teachers and students were
attracted to it from as far away as China and Greece.

Mughal Era

The name 'Wah' has its roots in the Mughal
era with the Mughal emperor Jehangir
reported to have coined the name when his army was stationed here
en route from a mission. Emperor Jehangir was impressed by the
scenery of this place, so he said "Wah" ('wow') and this place was
named 'Wah' after that exclamation.It is said that Mughal emperor
Jehangir’s army was coming back from a campaign in Kashmir, it was
evening time, and they were tired and looking for a place to stay.
After a little search they were successful in finding a place with
a natural source of water. As soon as the Mughal King watched the
natural beauty of the spring and surrounding mountains, he loudly
exclaimed ”Wah!”. His words were written on the stone of history.
Since that day, this territory is called Wah . The Mughal advent
had a strong influence on the architecture of the city which is
still visible to date with prominent Mughal sites like the Wah
Gardens.

Post Partition history

After
gaining Independence, Pakistan had no
facilities capable of producing armaments and military goods so
urgent plans were made for an ordnance factory in Wah, Punjab. The
word Cantt was added to Wah in 1951, when Prime Minister Khawaja Nazim-u-Din unveiled the
foundation stone of Pakistan Ordnance Factories Wah Cantt. Chaudhry
Sardar Khan was the founder and first Deputy Director General of
Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF), Wah Cantt. POF is not one
ammunition factory but it is a complex of 14 factories
manufacturing arms and ammunition ranging from bullets, shells,
assault rifles, missiles and bombs. Heavy Mechanical Complex in
neighboring Taxila produces tanks and other heavy arms. The nearby
town of Kamra is the site of Pakistan Aeronautical Complex
where aircraft are manufactured, assembled, repaired and overhauled
for the Air Force.

Geographical location

Wah Cantt is located 50 km (appx. 30 miles) north west of
Islamabad. It is a valley as it is surrounded by hills in all
directions. Mughal Emperor Zaheer-UD-Din Babur
mentioned the Wah region in his book the Baburnama. Wah has a rich historical background.
It was a favorite place of the great Mughal rulers. They built
several gardens here such as the most famous “Wah Garden”. It is
still present with its remains of Mughal architecture. It is
located on the main G.T Road. Wah Garden has a historical value
along with being a beautiful and attractive picnic spot. This park
has the potential to attract people from different places.

Sultan Sher Shah Suri, who built the
famous Grand Trunk Road (GT Road), built a 'bawley' or watering
place here. It is now called the Sher Shah Park and is situated
near the Aslam Market. It is said that Sher Shah's horses used to
drink water there.

Wah is located in a fertile valley. It is suitable for growing
every sort of crops, especially fruits. This area was not developed
before the construction of the POF, but now it is one of the most
advanced and developed places in Pakistan.

Culture

Wah Cantt is a multicultural City. People with various ethnic
backgrounds live and work here. Culture from Karachi to Khyber can
be observed in the city. People are skillful and educated and most
of them are factory employees. The city is rather quiet in the
morning, but all charm of the city is restored in the evening. The
hustle bustle of people for evening walks, children and elders
playing games in playing grounds and elderly sitting on grass
gardens add to the beauty of city. The city is said to have one of
the best civic amenities in the entire country with a solid health
care and education system.

Wah Cantt is divided into 27 sectors and some private housing
colonies. The commonly known colonies are Officer's colony
Basti/Lala Rukh Shahwali Colony, Lala Zar, Gulistan colony and AC
Wah. Popular markets include Aslam market, Basti market, Anwaar
chowk, Laiq Ali chowk Munirabad, Asifaabad, Ahmed Nagar and Nawab
Abad . This city is distinguished because of a very high standard
of education. Literacy rate is approximately 100% and highest in
Asia. 115 educational institutes serve over 50,000 students.
Unsurprisingly, it has become one of the most expensive cities in
the whole country. The secret of this excellence is disciplined
living and strictly conscientious society where parents are
reprimanded for keeping their children away from school even for a
single day without cogent reason.

Wah also has 'Senior Citizen Foundation of Pakistan-Wah Chaptar'
office. The organization is devoted to the cause of senior citizens
of Wah. The President Mr. Durrani and Secretary General Mr. Fazal
Hussain Awan, and executive committee of the organization are
providing dedicated services to the senior citizens of Wah. Some of
their prominent contribution to the Senior Citizens in Wah
are:-

Establishment of Senior Citizen office at
Lalarukh.Library where all daily newspapers and journals are kept
for senior citizens.TV room for watching interesting
programs.Medical Services like Physiotherapy, Sugar tests and
discounted medicines and holding of free medical camps.Free
transport service within Wah Cantt.

Besides the organization is also holding quarterly and annual
functions wherein the Chairman POF Board and other officials
participate and encourage the activities of ageing citizens

Sports

People of this city are highly interested in sports. There are a
number of grounds, about 300 small and big ones where different
games are in proceeding all the time. Even in Ramzan sometimes
people old up to 50 are found engaged in playing while above 70's
watching them and rising appraisals.

F.G Science Degree College's basket ball team is champion of ALL
Pakistan basketball championship last 9 times consectively

Wah has a hockey field laid with Astro Turf, one of the earliest
examples of it in this once hockey-mad nation. The Hockey Stadium
at Welfare Club (near Anwar Chowk) is a sad reminder of the glory
days of Pakistani hockey when the country was an undisputed
champion and a recognized super power in this game. Moreover, the
CB Ground (near Barrier 3) can also be used for cricket.

Welfare Club also has an indoor sports arena as well as a swimming
complex. Main public swimming facility is located at Ordnance Club
near Aslam Market.

Defense

The Pakistan Ordnance
Factories (POF), is responsible for conventional weapons
production and is located in Wah Cantonment. POF is a government
organization operating under the defense Production Division in
Pakistan’s Ministry of defense. POF is a complex of arms and
ammunition manufacturing factories employing more than 40,000
personnel. POF has provided weapons and ammunition to the Pakistan
Army and all their foreign clients. However, since POF can not
produce the complete inventory of the Pakistani Army's armament
needs, a high content of the Armed Force requirements are imported.
POF produces approximately 70 major products for supply to Army,
Navy and Air Force. The main products include automatic rifle;
light medium and heavy machine guns, complete range of mortar and
artillery ammunition, aircraft ammunition and anti-aircraft
ammunition, tank ammunition and anti-tank ammunition, bombs,
grenades, land mines, pyrotechnics and signal stores etc. It also
has a clothing factory which supplies uniforms to the armed
personnel.

Education

Wah has a remarkably high literacy rate.This small city has Two
chartered Universities, one Medical College, one Engineering
College and a large number of schools. Wah Cantt has the largest
literacy rate in all of Pakistan. Students from Wah Cantt can be
found studying at all the institutes of Pakistan and most major
universities of the world. Wah Cantt also has the largest number of
bi-cycles than any city in Pakistan. This links the city
with its past as, historically, the neighboring town of Taxila had been a
seat of learning for thousands of years. Wah Cantt also has
a very beauty full place in the Earth.

Wah Cantt, having an area of no more than 30 square kilometers
(approx.), has the highest number of educational institutes per
square mile.Apart from a large number of private and government
schools up to 12th level, foundations of professional universities
have been laid down in past 5 years. Apex Institute of Skills Wah
Cantt Sir Syed College Wah Cantt Wah Medical College , University
of Wah - which includes Wah Engineering College & Mishal
College for Women , COMSATS Institute of Information and Technology
are among the big institutes in Wah Cantt. In the private sector,
Wah Swedish Institute of Technology, Rawalpindi College of Commerce
and Rawalpindi Institute of Technology are popular technical
education institutes. Zarghoona College for Women and Cantt College
for women are some prominent women colleges. In government sector
there is Technical Training Institute (TTI), a center of technical
training. People qualified from this college serve not only in the
POFs but also work in the Middle East and send valuable foreign
exchange.

Some important Institutes:F G Public High School.Sir Syed
College.P.O.F Model High SchoolPak Danish Institute of Technology
(first technical institute of mechanical engineering in private
sector)F.G Science Degree CollegeDegree college for BoysDegree
college for WomenFarooqi Ideal Public School And College.
(www.fipsc.edu.pk)There is a high competition to get admission at
HSSC level in pre-medical and pre-engineering groups in F.G. and
F.G Science Degree College for both men and women: Two for men and
one post graduate college for women, as they are the most well
established government colleges in Wah Cantt. Being a student of
these colleges is thought of as an honour in the city. Then, there
are other schools like Margalla Grammer School, Wah Grammar school,
Lahore Grammar School, Organon, Wah City School, PICS Model School
and also BSS (Beacon House School System) and numerous other
schools from Montessori to "O" and "A" levels.

Squash At Wah

Another pride for the Wahites is the reputation of Wah for holding
national and international level squash competitions.

The 1st POF WISPA Squash Tournament was hosted at Jahangir Khan
Squash Complex Wah Cantt from 28 August to 2 September, 2005. The
tournament carried a prize purse of US$ 7,000/- and players from
Pakistan, England, Korea, Denmark and Malaysia took part in it. Top
seeded Carla Khan of Pakistan won the championship beating No 2
seeded Sharon Wee of Malaysia in the final. President World Squash
Federation, Mr Jahangir Khan graced the concluding ceremony as the
chief guest.

Transport

Wah Cantt offers a unique type of transport to its residents. The
transport network is called The POF Welfare Transport and it runs
buses and coaches (about 200 in number) on 7 different routes all
over the city. They charge only the uniform fare of Rs 07.00
(Approx. US$00.07 or £00.04) and take you anywhere in the city for
this amount. This is the cheapest and the most efficient public
transport network in Pakistan, which is a landmark in itself. POF
Welfare Transport Service now increases the price from Rs. 4.00 to
Rs. 7.00.Wah Cantt offers a unique type of transport to its
residents. The transport network is called The POF Welfare
Transport and it runs buses and coaches (about 200 in number) on 7
different routes all over the city. They charge only the uniform
fare of Rs 07.00 (Approx. US$00.07 or £00.04) and take you anywhere
in the city for this amount. This is the cheapest and the most
efficient public transport network in Pakistan, which is a landmark
in itself. POF Welfare Transport Service now increases the price
from Rs. 4.00 to Rs. 7.00.

Political Personalities

Prof. Muhammad Waqas Khan is new comer in Politics but he has
political background , his father Dr.Muhammad Kamal was contested
in various elections against Ch. Nisar Ali Khan and Ghulam serwar
Khan from Jamaat-e-Islami Ticket. But unfortunalty he never won the
seat, But Muhammad Waqas Khan was members of Punjab Assembly and
won a elction of MPA in 2002 on MMA ticket, but in 2008 he
boycotted neither contest.He is well reputed personality in this
area and also he is Islamic scholar, he is ameer Jamaat-e-Islami
Taxila Town and President Political Committee of Jamaat-e-Islami
Punjab (N), he run own School System named Lala Rukh Model Schools
in Lala Rukh.